Apparatus and Method of Location Determination in a Thermal Imaging System

Abstract

A camera assembly, including: an enclosure having at least two mounting surfaces that are orthogonal to each other for alignment with at least two orthogonal surfaces against which the camera assembly is to be mounted; at least one imaging apparatus disposed within the enclosure and having a predetermined orientation with respect to the enclosure; and a communication device disposed within the enclosure; and a server disposed at a location remote from where the camera is mounted. The camera assembly and the server communicate over a computer communication network to identify at least one mounting measurement of the camera assembly to establish a mapping from an image coordinate system for images generated by the imaging apparatus and a real world coordinate system aligned with an orientation defined by the at least two orthogonal surfaces.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An imaging system, comprising:
 a camera assembly, including:
 an enclosure having at least two mounting surfaces that are orthogonal to each other for alignment with at least two orthogonal surfaces against which the camera assembly is to be mounted; 
 at least one imaging apparatus disposed within the enclosure and having a predetermined orientation with respect to the enclosure; and 
 a communication device disposed within the enclosure; and 
   a server disposed at a location remote from where the camera assembly is mounted;   wherein the camera assembly and the server communicate over a computer communication network to identify at least one installation measurement of the camera assembly to establish a mapping from an image coordinate system for images generated by the imaging apparatus and a real world coordinate system aligned with an orientation defined by the at least two orthogonal surfaces.   
     
     
         2 . The imaging system of  claim 1 , wherein a user of the camera assembly is instructed to mount the camera assembly on an edge where two walls meet; and
 the at least one installation measurement includes a mounting height of the camera assembly over a floor plane on which the user of the system stands.   
     
     
         3 . The imaging system of  claim 2 , wherein the imaging apparatus is a thermal camera that generates the images based on sensing infrared radiation. 
     
     
         4 . The imaging system of  claim 3 , wherein the communication device is a wireless communication device. 
     
     
         5 . The imaging system of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a mobile device running a mobile application configured to provide a user interface, in communication with at least one of: the camera assembly and the server, in identifying the installation measurement.   
     
     
         6 . The imaging system of  claim 5 , wherein the user interface is configured to receive an input identifying a height of the user whose thermal image is captured in an image generated by the thermal camera; and the mounting height is computed from a height of the user in the image and the height received in the user interface. 
     
     
         7 . The imaging system of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one installation measurement includes a location, in the image coordinate system, of a point of interest in a scene monitored by the imaging apparatus, wherein the point of interest is within the images generated by the thermal camera but not visible in the images generated by the thermal camera. 
     
     
         8 . The imaging system of  claim 7 , wherein the user is instructed to move to a point of interest to mark the location of the point of interest in the image coordinate system with a location of a thermal image of the user at the point of interest. 
     
     
         9 . The imaging system of  claim 2 , wherein the camera assembly is a first camera assembly; and the imaging system further comprises:
 a second camera assembly having a mounting height, wherein the mounting height of the first camera assembly is computed based on the mounting height of the second camera assembly and correlation of objects simultaneously captured in images generated the first and second cameras.   
     
     
         10 . The imaging system of  claim 1 , wherein the camera assembly further includes a sensor to measure a mounting height between the camera assembly and a floor plane.